Program reading mechanism

ABSTRACT

A program reading mechanism in which a band shaped exchangeable program carrier is moved in increments by a transportation roll, with the data carried by the program carrier being scanned by contacts, and the transportation roll being driven by two flights connected to one another rotating about a common center and arranged diametrically in relationship to the common center, the flights engaging in radial slots provided for the periphery of a slotted disc connected to the transportation roll, with the common center of the flights being generally disposed at the level of the periphery of the slotted disc.

United States Patent [191 Strecke PROGRAM READING MECHANISM [76]Inventor: Heinz Streclte, Lindenba mstrasse 13, 565 Solingen, Germany[22] Filed: July 6, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 160,052

[52] US. Cl. 235/61.11 A, 178/17 B, 200/46 [51] 1 Int. CL... G06k 7/06,H04k 15/18, H01h 43/08 [58] Field of Search 235/61.11 R, 61.11 A,

' 235/61.l1 C; 200/46; 178/17 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,720,164 10/1955 Braun et a1 235/6l.1l B 2,781,973 2/1957 Baeret-al....' 235/6l.ll C

2,965,727 12/1960 Passman 200/46 3,159,733 12/1964 Parstorfer 200/46 1 1Jan. 15, 1974 Primary Examiner-Daryl W. Cook Att0meyHolman & Stern 57ABSTRACT A program reading mechanism in which a band shaped exchangeableprogram carrier is moved in increments by a transportation roll, withthe data carried by the program carrier being scanned by contacts,

and'the transportation roll being driven by two flights 1 connected toone another rotating about a common center and arranged diametrically inrelationship to the common center, the flights engaging in radial slotsprovided for the periphery of a slotted disc connected to thetransportation roll, with the common center of the flights beinggenerally disposed at the level of the periphery of the slotted disc.

15 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENT m1 5|9 sum 1 or 5 PROGRAM READINGMECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ous and intermittent operation.The program carrier is to be moved by increments in order to provide fora reliable contactability and in order to be able to store a greaterdata capacityon the program.

PRIOR ART For fulfilling these requirements, program reading mechanismsare known for the drive of which a Maltese-cross is used. Maltese-crosstransmissions stress the program carrier as a result of the movement byjerks or jolts, as they do other parts of the apparatus, and theythemselves wear quickly. A Maltese-cross transmission is'known from theBritish patent specification 832,717. I

Furthermore, the Maltese-cross transmission has an extended idle periodrelated to the drive period. In case of a four slot Maltese cross, theimpeller driving the Maltese cross rotates by 90 for the drive and by270 for idle. Such an extended idle period requires a high drive speedand thereby renders difficult a quick and precise stopping of the drivemotor, as this is required for an intermittent operation.

7 objects AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problem which the inventionis to solve is to provide a program reading mechanism which scans thedata contained on the program carrier with particular reliability andhas a slight wear rate.

According to the invention, this problem is solved by the measures thatfor the drive of the transportation roll, two flights are providedconnected to one another, rotating about a common center and arrangeddiametrically in relationship to their common center, with said flightsengaging'in radial slots provided peripherally for a slotted discconnected to the transportation roll, and that the common center of theflights is generally disposed at the level of the periphery of theslotted disc.

Hence, a sinusoidal motion of the program carrier is obtained, i.e. aharmonic increment motion is provided for without any jolting movementswhich permits reliable contactabilities. The program carrier reusedagain and again and thereby subjected to heavy wear as well as othermachine parts are protected. The motor and the transmission operate withlow speeds, since there are no idle periods. Thus, it is possible tostop the program carrier quickly and precisely.

An embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the drawings andwill be described in closer detail herinafter. In the drawings:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of theprogram reading mechanism,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The program reading mechanismincludes a frame I and a transmission motor 2 secured by an attachmentbracket 5. A round disc is attached to output shaft 4 of thetransmission motor 2, at which two flights 6 are arranged diametricallyin the same spacing from the axis of the output shaft 4. The flights 6engage in slots 30 provided for the periphery of a slotted disc 3, theaxis of the output shaft 4 being positioned generally at the level ofthe periphery of the disc 3. A transportation roll 7 provided with pins15 is secured to the disc 3, with said transportation roll moving anapertured film 9 of plastic, the pins engaging perforations 16 of theapertured film 9. Rotatably supported guide rolls l2 urged against thetransportation roll 7 by a retaining bracket 13 and a tension spring 14guide the apertured film 9 around the transportation roll 7.Furthermore, the apertured film 9 is guided over a guide sheet 11positioned underneath the transportation roll 7, over an insulatingblock 17 positioned at the level of the transportation roll 7, and overa contact rail 18 secured to the insulating block 17.

The contact rail 18 is engaged by spherical contacts 21 secured tocontact springs 20, which contacts touch the contact rail 18 throughholes 26 or longitudinal recesses 29 of the apertured film.9. In thecontact rail 18, grooves 25 thereof are associated with the sphericalcontacts 21, said grooves extending in direction of movement of theapertured film. The width of the grooves 25 is such that the sphericalcontacts 21 have two points of engagement 27 with the grooves 25.

The contact springs 20 are secured to a rotatably mounted arrestableinsulating member 19.

The apertured film 9 has a coordinate system so that it can be noted inwhich line and in which channel the recesses 26 and 29 for the programare positioned.

In an alternative embodiment (FIG. 5), the apertured film 9 is scannedby contacts in the form of scanning pins 32 of a plurality of juxtaposedmicroswitches 31, with the apertured film 9 being guided in a slot 34 ofa guide arrangement 33. The slot 34 is arranged perpendicular relativeto the direction of movement of the guide arrangement 33. The guidearrangement 33 is moved by a lifting system defined by components 35 to38 in such a way that the apertured film 9 is lifted off the scanningpins 32 before the apertured film is moved through the transportationroll 7.

The movement of the guide arrangement 33 is effected by a rectangularlever 36 secured to the guide arrangement, with said lever beingsupported rotatable about an axis 37 and carrying a cam portion 35 atits upper end, and said cam portion is urged with its engaging surface40 by a spring38 against a second rotating flight pair 39 of the disc.Since inthis embodiment, the movement of the cam portion 35 is generallytangential relative to the slotted disc 3, the second flight pair 39 isarranged perpendicular relative to the first flight pair 6, so that theapertured film engages the microswitches 31 the moment the slotted discstops. This moment has been illustrated in the drawing.

In the embodiment, the engaging surface 40 of the cam portion 35 has aconcave shape, but by exchanging the cam portion 35, engaging surfacesof different shapes can be used also, whereby the type of movement ofthe guide arrangement 33 is variable as desired.

Alternatively, it is also possible that only one flight pair 6 isprovided and that both the cam portion 35 and the slotted disc 3 aremoved by this flight pair. Furthermore, it is possible that the lever36-does not lift off the guide arrangement 33 and thus the aperturedfilm 9 from the microswitch 31, but the microswitch 31 or the scanningpin 32 from the apertured film 9.

1 claim:

1. A program reading mechanism including a bandshaped exchangeableprogram carrier, a transportation roll by which the program carrier ismoved in increments, contacts by which data carried by the programcarrier is scanned, and a drive for the transportation roll, the drivecomprising two flights connected to one another, means defining a commoncenter about which the flights rotate, the flights beingjarrangeddiametrically in relationship to the common center, and a disc connectedto the transportation roll, the disc having a periphery provided withradial slots, the flights engaging in the radial slots, and the commoncenter of the flights being generally disposed at the level of theperiphery of the disc.

2. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which theflights are arranged relative to the disc in such a way that when achange is effected from one flight to the other flight, the one flightengages before the other flight disengages.

3. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which bothflights substantially halfway engage in the slots when the programreading mechanism stops.

4. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which thediameter of the disc is greater than the diameter of the transportationroll.

5. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 including twofurther flights rotating about the common center rigidly connected tothe two flights, and drive elements operably related to the flights andthe'contacts operative to separate the program carrier from the contactsduring the movement of the program carrier.

6. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in which thedrive elements include a lever provided with a cam portion having anengaging surface, and a resilient element operably related to the leverfor urging the engaging surface against said flights.

7. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 6 in which theengaging surface is of concave configuration. Y

8. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in which thecontacts are scanning pins of a microswitch.

9. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in which thedrive elements include a guide having a slot disposed perpendicular tothe direction of movement of the guide in which slot the program carrieris guided.

10. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which theflights are of a wear resistant plastic.

11. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which theprogram carrier is an apertured film of plastic.

12. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 11 in which twoapertures are provided for each data in the program carrier.

13. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 12 in which eachdata has two channels for a control in accord with the two apertures.

14. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 11 in which theapertured film has a coordinate system.

15. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which thecontacts are ball-shaped and further contacts with which the ball-shapedcontacts cooperate at two points.

1. A program reading mechanism including a band-shaped exchangeableprogram carrier, a transportation roll by which the program carrier ismoved in increments, contacts by which data carried by the programcarrier is scanned, and a drive for the transportation roll, the drivecomprising two flights connected to one another, means defining a commoncenter about which the flights rotate, the flights being arrangeddiametrically in relationship to the common center, and a disc connectedto the transportation roll, the disc having a periphery provided withradial slots, the flights engaging in the radial slots, and the commoncenter of the flights being generally disposed at the level of theperiphery of the disc.
 2. The program reading mechanism as claimed inclaim 1 in which the flights are arranged relative to the disc in such away that when a change is effected from one flight to the other flight,the one flight engages before the other flight disengages.
 3. Theprogram reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which both flightssubstantially halfway engage in the slots when the program readingmechanism stops.
 4. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1in which the diameter of the disc is greater than the diameter of thetransportation roll.
 5. The program reading mechanism as claimed inclaim 1 including two further flights rotating about the common centerrigidly connected to the two flights, and drive elements operablyrelated to the flights and the contacts operative to separate theprogram carrier from the contacts during the movement of the programcarrier.
 6. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in whichthe drive elements include a lever provided with a cam portion having anengaging surface, and a resilient element operably related to the leverfor urging the engaging surface against said flights.
 7. The programreading mechanism as claimed in claim 6 in which the engaging surface isof concave configuration.
 8. The program reading mechanism as claimed inclaim 5 in which the contacts are scanning pins of a microswitch.
 9. Theprogram reading mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in which the driveelements include a guide having a slot disposed perpendicular to thedirection of movement of the guide in which slot the program carrier isguided.
 10. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in whichthe flights are of a wear resistant plastic.
 11. The program readingmechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the program carrier is anapertured film of plastic.
 12. The program reading mechanism as claimedin claim 11 in which two apertures are provided for each data in theprogram carrier.
 13. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim12 in which each data has two channels for a control in accord with thetwo apertures.
 14. The program reading mechanism as claimed in claim 11in which the apertured film has a coordinate system.
 15. The programreading mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the contacts areball-shaped and further contacts with which the ball-shaped contactscooperate at two points.